Fracking Hell

New York State has passed a moratorium in natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

In Pennsylvania, the drilling continues, and I fear for the future of my beautiful Endless Mountains. We are barely into what we are told will be decades of drilling and already the water supply of one town has been compromised, and streams and wells are being lost on an ongoing basis.

The water supplies of Philadelphia and New York City are at risk, as are the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. Over 4 million gallons  of water per well drilled become polluted by fracking chemicals, some of which can be cancer-causing. When these waters spill into fields, cattle die. When they get into streams, there are fish kills. And when they get into people…

Unbelievably, by virtue of what is called the Halliburton loophole in the 2005 energy bill, the natural gas industry is exempt from the clean air and clean water act.

Among the many dubious provisions in the 2005 energy bill was one dubbed the Halliburton loophole, which was inserted at the behest of — you guessed it — then-Vice President Dick Cheney, a former chief executive of Halliburton.It stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate a drilling process called hydraulic fracturing. Invented by Halliburton in the 1940s, it involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals, some of them toxic, into underground rock formations to blast them open and release natural gas. (via New York Times)

In the meantime, state DEP agencies are understaffed and cannot begin to regulate the behomoth gas industry in their states. Local water treatment plants are not up to the task of cleaning unknown chemicals from their local water supplies. Farming communities that already must monitor water usage to avoid drought conditions cannot withstand the loss of their precious water to drilling.

Town by town, landowner by landowner, drilling is occurring under the radar

That’s why it’s taken us all by surprise. The Halliburton loophole has kept natural gas drilling below the national consciousness, since the impact of the process on water and air quality is exempt from national oversight. Put it in rural areas, and its hidden in plain sight.

Since 2005, drilling rights have been sold by private landowners to gas companies with no community oversight and no national regulation. Acre by acre, town by town, lake my lake, stream by stream, the natural gas companies are moving through some of the most pristine and beautiful land in America – including public lands, state and national parks – and threatening to turn them into industrial waste zones. The quality of life in these areas is being destroyed, property values are plummeting and futures ruined. Short term profits and cash lining the pockets of the minority are trumping long term concerns and the rights of the majority.

Drilling is proceeding at a breakneck pace, and without national oversight, states and local communities are left to deal with the consequences.

Folks, natural gas is not clean

That’s just how they’re marketing it. When we look at it’s environmental impact of fracking, the process by which we are choosing to extract it, natural gas is downright filthy.

Get informed

To get up to speed on the topic, I point you to the video above and to the resources below. Read them. Link to them.  Tweet them. Email them. Tell someone. Anyone.

Get Involved

Urge congress to move on the FRAC act, which would require gas companies to disclose the contents of fracking water. If you live in a Marcellus shale watershed area, tell your local government representatives that your water is at risk. Read about what Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are doing to protect their water supply.  And if you live in the shale, fight.

We are facing what has been called the environmental crisis of a generation.

Don’t wait until it’s too late to do something.

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Natural Gas Drilling & Hydraulic Fracking – Essential Reading

• A Colossal Fracking Mess – Vanity Fair’s report on the dirty truth behind natural gas
• Pro Publica’s Groundbreaking Investigation into Natural Gas Drilling
• The Frac Act – Which would require gas companies to disclose fracking chemicals – is stalled in Committee since the summer
• Gasland – the award winning HBO Documentary on Fracking. Watch the trailer, then order the movie online or from Netflicks.
• Andrew Reinbach’s brilliant solution to stop drilling – sue your neighbor.
• Pittsburgh bans Natural Gas drilling
• Mark Ruffulo is leading the fight against fracking in NY State. Pennsylvania needs a star to help us too!
• Life in the Gas Lane – An honest look at day-to-day impact of drilling in Bradford County, Pa
• Calvin Tillman, Mayor of Dish, Texas – A blog about the effects of drilling on one small town “We are hard working honest people who have been dealt a raw hand by the pipeline industry.”
• Frack Tracker – a blog from the U of Pittsburgh allowing readers to track actual drilling activity, water withdrawal permits and potential environmental impacts in the Marcellus Shale.
• The Department of the Interior held a forum today on fracking – will it lead to passage of the Frac Act?